Jo-Ann Wallace is Director of the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia. Before becoming Director, she was Deputy Chief of the Appellate Division. She previously served as a Staff Attorney and as Coordinator for the agency's Juvenile Services Program, which provides advocacy for children incarcerated in District of Columbia detention facilities. Ms. Wallace, a graduate of New York University Law School, currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Legal Aid and Defender Association (NLADA). She is Chairperson of NLADA's Blue Ribbon Advisory Panel on Defender Service, and a member of the Defender Council. She is a member of the American Bar Association Criminal Justice Standards Committee. In 1994, Ms. Wallace founded the District of Columbia Appellate Practice Institute. She previously served as Chairperson and continues to serve as a Lecturer for the District of Columbia Appellate Practice Institute. She is a member of the visiting faculty for the Trial Advocacy Workshop at Harvard Law School.